| Team | Final |
|---|---|
| Amesbury | 36 |
| Newburyport | 45 |
Wednesday, December, 19
By John Shimer
Staff writer
Newburyport point guard Richie Burke picked the perfect night to turn in one of the best games of his career.
In a typical gritty Amesbury-Newburyport clash, the Clippers slick point guard scored a game-high 17 points to carry his team to a 45-36 victory at Newburyport High.
From the time Ben Brink hit the opening basket of the game | a 3-pointer | Amesbury never so much as tied Newburyport, which led the entire of the way.
The Clippers wire-to-wire victory came with their top big man, Chris Barry, sitting on the bench for significant portions of the game due to foul trouble. The backcourt tandem of Burke and Bruce Pollard put the brunt of the offensive output on their shoulders, scoring a combined 27 points.
"Richie (Burke) is one of the premier point guards in our league," said Amesbury coach Thom Connors. "He played pretty much the way we expected him to play with good ball handling. It was a huge effort."
Midway through the second quarter, the tandem combined for eights points in an 11-4 run to give the Clippers some breathing room with a 20-12 halftime lead.
"This was the biggest game of the year for both Burke and Pollard, they really picked up our offense and were aggressive all game," said Newburyport coach Tom L'Italien. "We needed that with Chris on the bench.
"He (Barry) just needs to be a little smarter about how he approaches the defensive side of the game," L'Italien continued. "I think sometimes he just wants to get a little more involved on the offensive end, and that anxious aggression transfers to how he plays on defense."
Pollard buried two big 3-pointers in the third quarter, and the Clippers extended their lead as high as 13 points before the scrappy Tribe began to charge back.
Already in the bonus heading into the fourth quarter, Newburyport would have plenty of opportunities to add to its lead from the free-throw line. But the Clippers struggled at first, opening the door for an Amesbury comeback.
The Indians got the lead to 37-31, but the Clippers eventually sank their free throws going 9 for 14 for the quarter to finish off Amesbury by the final 9-point margin. "We said in the pregame that their would be a lot of emotion tonight, but we needed to be disciplined throughout," L'Italien said of the old rivalry. "This was a hard-fought game played at a fast pace, end-to-end action all night." In what was a defensive struggle for most of the night, Connors said his team needed to do a better job of taking care of the basketball.
"We had too many turnovers and our field-goal percentage was really low," said Connors. "We got stops late in the game, we just needed someone hit a big three at the right time, but we just couldn't convert."
Jay Wheeler led the Indians in scoring, putting up 10 tough points on the inside, six of which came off offensive rebounds.
Newburyport was without its leading scorer, Joe Clancy, who served the first game of a Mass. Interscholastic Athletic Association-imposed five-game suspension.
OMG; anyone else see the HORRIFFIC officiating at that game? I have five sons, whose games I have been attending for over 14 years (that's a lot of games), and I have never seen anything like it! Anyone else?
#2 12/20/2007 04:13 PMWhen RallyNorth.net first started allowing people to comment on games that at some point the comments would be inapprorpiate and at times not right. Here is hoping the people who run this site discontinue the "leave a comment" section and allow people to see the true value of the site...an opportunity to catch up with any team on the North Shore for a score or story. I enjoy the site but could do with out the opportunity for some to take shots at high school kids and hide behind a screen name. Tom L'Italien Newburyport Boys Basketball Head Coach
#4 12/20/2007 08:15 PMI agree coach; but, :"marioncantspell" is obviously a kid (apparently from Newburyport; see comments on Thanksgiving Day football game articles). And I think that most readers here can easily see that. Any forum where kids can speak freely is going to be a little "rough". I have to admit that one of my kids has gone on here under my username, and I put a stop to that immediately. I come here to print pictures of my sons, and to save these articles for their college applications and scrapbooks, etc. And as for student Joe Clancy (I think you were referring to the comment about him as well as the Marion Wilder insults), well, he is his own worst enemy. It's too bad that a kid who plays so many sports can have such little self-esteem; I hope that his family and coaches are putting their "feet" down & demanding change from him. I pay for all five of my sons to play sports, not only because they enjoy and excel at them, but they also have a responsibility to do their best to stay on honor roll and they do not get into trouble(knock on wood).
#5 12/21/2007 12:22 PMRegardless of whether or not either team was outplayed; the officiating was awful. The refs were making calls, for which their position did not even allow. I wouldn't be surprised if it was their first game. Horrible calls were made in both directions.
#6 12/21/2007 01:17 PMIndianfan26.....Once again my point is simple....people should not be commenting on high school kids. Save the comments and blogging for professional sports! I think it is a little unfair for "all" to comment on teams and kids when people really do not know the whole situation....Here is hoping RallyNorth.net discontinues the "leave a comment" section, as you can see it can get out of hand. Tom L'Italien
#7 12/22/2007 12:20 AMFine coach, we get your point; but, high school students are "talked about" conatantly, all week long, from newspaper to newspaper, from season to season, from sport to sport; as a coach, you certaily don't mind talking about how many points one of your players has scored, or how many games you may have one, etc..........yet in your interview the other day, you refused to talk about a MIAA suspension........the newpaper felt the need to mention it.....they evidently felt it was pertinent....don't you think that some underclassmen athletes may learn from Clancy's mistakes? Readers should have access to the bad as well as the good. You shouldn't try to paint people as something they certainly are not.
#8 12/23/2007 07:59 PM
5 Highland st.
Amesbury, MA 01913
Website
Map & Directions
RallyNorth.net is a product of the Eagle-Tribune Publishing Co. All rights reserved.
© 2024 Eagle-Tribune Publishing Co., 100 Turnpike St., North Andover, Mass. 01845; 978-946-2000
High school sports schedules are subject to change.
0 Football Fan
Clancy suspended, again? What now?
Report! #1 12/20/2007 03:52 PM